The invention relates generally to power-driven conveyors and, more particularly, to modular plastic conveyor belts with sideguards unitarily formed with plastic belt modules.
Sideguards are commonly used with belt conveyors to prevent conveyed materials such as aggregates, vegetables, and fruits from falling off the sides of the belt. Typically, a sideguard is positioned near both sides of each belt row. The leading edge of a sideguard is usually laterally offset from the trailing edge. In this way, the leading edge of a sideguard of a trailing row does not interfere with the trailing edge of a sideguard of a leading row. In modular plastic belts, the sideguards are typically angularly disposed from one edge to the other so that the sideguards of consecutive rows form a continuous wall of sideguards overlapping fan-like. When a belt with sideguards bends backwards, such as when entering an incline, the overlap of consecutive sideguards and, consequently, the force exerted by the overlapping sideguards on each other, increase. To endure the increased force during backflexing without damage, sideguards are usually designed to be thin and therefore resilient. But thin sideguards are easier to break with equipment, such as hoses for cleaning, that may come into contact with the sideguards during belt operation or maintenance.
In modular plastic conveyor belts, sideguards are usually supplied as attachments to belts. The sideguards snap into belt structure or are connected to the hinge rods joining consecutive rows of belt modules together. But these connections are often fairly loose. Although excess play in the connections provides some relief to the backflexing problem, loose connections prevent consecutive sideguards from meshing well and therefore leave gaps through which conveyed articles can escape. Furthermore, these connection schemes are generally insufficiently sturdy to accommodate other than thin, lightweight sideguards.
Thus, there is a need for a plastic conveyor belt module with durable sideguards that can handle backflexing of a conveyor belt.